Are these Club cards a progression? Do they tell a tale? I'm not sure if I can string them into a story, but they certainly represent the 'unpleasant occurrences of one's life, from dishonest folk or individuals with power over us, to misfortunes, grief and unhealthy situations,' as Andy Boroveshengra's book Lenormand: 36 Cards says. They are:
Ring - Cross - Mice - Mountain - Fox - Bear - Whips - Snake - Clouds
The suit appears to me to show a progression of no-good, very-bad things, from potentially hurtful (Ring) to the trials of Job (Clouds).
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| French Cartomancy, LoScarabeo |
The Ring is the beginning of this suit, and it may seem like a strange suit for this card to be in, as it represents commitment. We like to think of commitment as a good thing, especially the kind of commitment represented by a ring. But when you think about it, commitment is a very risky business. People look at a commitment or a contract as insurance that they won't get hurt, but as soon as you sign on to something you are putting yourself at risk of being betrayed, robbed, injured or wronged in some way. We know this. That's why we say to each other, please make this promise to me that you won't betray, rob, injure or wrong me. Because we know we are putting ourselves into a position where that has become more likely to happen.
The Cross is a burden that must be borne. I wrote my thoughts about it a while back here: Lenormand Cross. In that post three years ago, I said that the card probably points mostly to burdens and not necessarily religion, but I do believe that depending on the reading it serves as a symbol for any (or lack of) religious belief, tradition, or spiritual practice. And heaven knows (if you'll pardon the expression), that can become a big old mud hole for people to drown themselves in (or try to drown each other in).
Then comes Mice, and we might think, well, how can mice be worse than a cross, but the Mice card represents the nibbling away of the good stuff in your life, and that is like a kind of torture that just goes on and on -- ugh! Like Prometheus who has his liver eaten every day by an eagle, only to have it grow back overnight so that the eagle can eat it again the next day, forever. UGH! 'Nibble nibble like a mouse, who is nibbling at my house?' *Shudder*
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| French Cartomancy, LoScarabeo |
From the nibble-nibbles to the BIG BARRIER of Mountain, we then encounter what's even more painful than situations that can hurt us -- and that's people that can hurt us. The Fox tries to use us, the Bear to control us.
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| French Cartomancy, LoScarabeo |
The Whips torment us, the Snake confuses, entices and betrays us, and the Clouds! Well, the Clouds cover everything over with gloom and badness.
The Ring is a risk, the Cross a burden, the Mice steal, the Mountain blocks, the Fox exploits, the Bear dominates, the Whips bring strife, the Snake betrays, the Clouds blacken and disturb everything.
So hip hip hooray for the suit of Clubs!
Or else, the Ring shows us and others our mettle, where we are willing to walk our talk. The Cross teaches us hard but valuable lessons. The Mice will only undermine us if we let them, and they also teach us about non-attachment. Obstacles and challenges allow us to learn about dedication and follow through, and the joy that can come from either thinking our way around an obstacle, or slogging through it come hell or high water. The Fox invites us to use the skills we need to be canny, and deal with people who are not always straight with us. The Bear helps us develop the strength to stand up to others. The Whips encourage us to speak our truth without being mean, and to sweep people out of our life if they continue to aggress us. The Snake teaches us about firm boundaries, and the Clouds helps us to sit with uncertainty. Hip hip hooray for the suit of Clubs! ;)
ReplyDeleteYou're harshing my gloomy squee. :)
DeleteI'm sure you understand that what I'm doing with the suits is going completely over the top with the theme in order to cement it in my mind. I am learning to play scales here. I can do jazz improv later. I'm learning the colour spectrum. I can learn how to mix them all to paint a white cloud later.
Hmm, I think you improv pretty well! I guess I just can't stay out of it when people go all negative on cards. Not that I think I sugar coat them, but I see no help in just glooming. Still, if it's part of your process, fair does. I just had to add the other side - I am a double Gemini, after all :D
DeleteAgain, these are not interpretations, this is an aide-memoir for playing card associations. Card meanings are explored, but I hold that a Lenormand card cannot be READ in any meaningful way in isolation. Any negative card can be read for an empowering message during a reading in combination with other cards, but these Clubs are the 'extreme blacks' of the deck, as Caitlin Matthews calls them. So I've looked at their extreme blackness.
DeleteI can tell you this week's method has worked for me; hubby quizzed me last night by calling out the name of the card and I was able to tell him the number of the card AND the playing card inset and I didn't miss one. :)
Congrats on the perfect quiz - it's clearly working for you, which is great :)
DeleteClubs teach important lessons, but typically through adversity. However one needs to avoid whitewashing and rehabilitating. Just because a valuable lesson is learnt it doesn’t neutralise.
DeleteThe Fox doesn’t teach one to be clever, it teaches us we are wrong in an assumption or approach. We discover this when we’re scammed or proved gullible. The Cross doesn’t teach us to be stronger through adversity, it teaches us our limit. But only by testing the strength of our backs.
'Just because a valuable lesson is learnt it doesn't neutralise.' I like that. Of course we grow as a result of adversity, but that doesn't mean it isn't damn hard and scary while it's happening, and it's okay to say so.
DeleteGreat job Carla! I was imagining Captain Caveman waving his big club around. ha.
ReplyDelete